MIKE'S COMMENTARY
COMPUTER CLASSES AND COURSES
ADVANCED USERS CLASS NOTES
NEWS & NOTES BY SUE FOUST

MIKE'S COMMENTARY AND SOME BITS OF WISDOM

February 2!  The Big Day is Coming Fast!  Groundhog Day is coming fast, and the preparations are under way for the annual festivities! If you're going to Punxsutawney to join in the festivities, take a few minutes to look over the  2007 Guide. There, you'll find the event schedule (which will be continually updated as the holiday approaches), along with tips for getting the most out of your visit. Bring warm clothes and your spirit of adventure -- Phil looks forward to seeing you!   History Around the fifth century, the European Celts believed that animals had certain supernatural powers on special days that were half-way between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. [citation needed] Folklore from Germany and France indicated that when marmots and bears came out of their winter dens too early, they were frightened by their shadow and retreated back inside for four to six weeks. [citation needed] This was adopted by the Romans as Hedgehog Day. When Christianity came into being, the formerly pagan observance also came to be called Candlemas. The earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pa. The reference was made Feb. 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County (Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate." In the U.S. the tradition derives from a Scottish poem:     As the light grows longer     The cold grows stronger     If Candlemas be fair and bright     Winter will have another flight     If Candlemas be cloud and rain     Winter will be gone and not come again     A farmer should on Candlemas day     Have half his corn and half his hay     On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop     You can be sure of a good pea crop This tradition also stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day [1] and Hedgehog Day. In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar when the date of the equinox drifted in the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead. This was exactly six weeks after February 2. Assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain medieval cultures, as it does now in western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly six weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. If he didn't, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor. Alternatively, the custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems. Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days such as Imbolc when daylight first makes significant progress against the night. Other traditions held that Spring did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox. So an arbiter, the groundhog / hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the Equinox. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia     Growing Fame From offering support of political events, to rooting for area sports teams, to becoming the star of a Hollywood movie, Punxsutawney Phil has increasingly been in the public eye. Early observances of Phil's predictions were conducted privately in the wooded areas that neighbor the town. Today's celebration sees tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world as revelers await Phil's appearance as most fans wait to see their favorite rock stars. The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper is credited with printing the news of the first observance in 1886 (one year before the first legendary trek to Gobbler's Knob): Over the course of Phil's appearances, Phil has had numerous noteworthy highlights: During Prohibition Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink. In 1958 Phil announced that it was a "United States Chucknik," rather than a Soviet Sputnik or Muttnik that became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth. In 1981 Phil wore a yellow ribbon in honor of the American hostages in Iran. Phil traveled to Washington DC in 1986 to meet with President Reagan. He was joined by Groundhog Club President Jim Means, Al Anthony and Bill Null. Phil met Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburg in 1987. In 1993, Columbia Pictures released the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. Phil appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1995. In the years following the release of the movie, record crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney! In 2001, Phil's prediction was shown live on the JumboTron at Times Square in New York City. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell attended the ceremonies, making him the first sitting governor ever to do so. Happy Birthday Sue

 
 
 

A little something to liven your day! THE  WAY CHILDREN SEE THINGS!      NUDITY I  was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a Woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was  stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock,  I  heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom!  That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!      HONESTY My son Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me  he'd dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it in the garbage. Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said  with a  charming little smile, "We  better throw this one out too then, 'Cause  it fell in the toilet a few days ago.      OPINIONS On  the first  day of school, a first-grader handed his Teacher a note from  his  Mother. The note read, "The  opinions expressed by my son are not necessarily those of his  Parents."      KETCHUP A  Woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar.  During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone.  "It's the minister, Mommy!" the child said to her mother. Then she added, "Mommy  can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's  hitting the bottle."      MORE  NUDITY A  little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the Women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover.  The  little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"      ELDERLY While  working for an organization that delivers lunches  to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon  rounds. The  various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchair's, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a pair of  false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable  barrage of questions, she merely turned and  whispered "The  Tooth Fairy will never believe this!"      DRESS-UP A  little girl was watching her Parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit." "And why not, darling?" "You  know that it always gives you a headache the next  morning."      SCHOOL A  little girl had just finished her first week of  school. "I'm just wasting my time!" she said to her Mother. "I  can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!"      BIBLE A  little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the  Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.  "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?"  With  astonishment in the young boy's voice! , he answered,  "I  think it's Adam's underwear !"

COMPUTER CLASSES AND COURSES
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STARTING FEBRUARY 17 ART AND PHOTO CAMP Applications are being accepted for an Art and Photo Camp, hosted by KCnet.  The Camp has a start date of Saturday, February 17 and will be held in the KCnet Community Room.  There will be 5 Saturday workshops, 9 AM to 12 Noon, continuing through February 24, March 3, 10, and 17.  The goal of the Camp is to help 12 area youth and adults gain some of the skills necessary for lifelong enjoyment of art.  It is not necessary to own a camera or a computer, in order to participate in the Art and Camera Camp. Information included in the educational portion of the camp will be about cameras and associated equipment, photo resolution and file formats, creative techniques and effects, photography exhibition, and photo critiques. Outcomes of the Camp will be printed booklets of art, produced for each individual, containing samples of the work accomplished throughout the course. There will be a web site, created by the participants, of the art projects produced during the Camp.  Each attendee will create at least one framed work of art that will be displayed during the Summer Art Walks in Lock Haven. Fee for all 5 workshops is $50 per person, which will help defray the cost of materials.  This fee will also include a one-year membership to the KCnet Camera Club, which meets once per month.   Deadline for registration is February 12, unless the quota is met before that date. This project is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through its regional arts funding partnership, Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts.  State government funding comes through an annual appropriation by Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. KCnet is a non-profit community technology center  and an equal opportunity service provider.

 
ADVANCED USER CLASS NOTES:

KCnet Advanced Users Group: Every Wednesday The starting time is 9:00 AM and we meet in Computer Lab 1 (The Big Room).  Leadership is Mike Foust and anyone that wants to jump into the fray. Quite a day these past two Wednesdays. We got rollin' with some pics sent by Advanced User viewers and others gleaned by Mike.  We then settled into our seats and took another wild tech ride.  Among the many 'puter topics covered we... 01-17 ... reviewed the latest la-dee-dah concerning microsoft Patches and Security Updates.  It was update Tuesday a week ago and by now most had been updated.  ... learned not to say "yes."   Mike explained an interesting and confusing  situation involving Media Player 11.  Many users do not care for the new interface and the association Microsoft has developed with Napster.  For instance finding Internet Radio can be a chore.  Uninstalling Media Player 11 through Control Panel - Add Remove works ok.  In fact Microsoft automatically reloads Media Player 10 as soon as Media PLayer 11 is removed.  As soon as Media Player 10 is installed a surprise will occur.   You will be informed that an update is available for your Media Player 10.  By choosing "yes" to get the update Microsoft uninstalls the new Media Player 10 and reinstalls a new Media Player 11.  So you are right back where you started.  01/24 ... reviewed the latest New Sophos security report reveals United States is worst for malware hosting and spam-relaying Growth in web security threats and Trojan downloaders Sophos, a world leader in IT security, has published its Security Threat Report 2007, examining the threat landscape over the previous twelve months, and predicting malware and spam developments during 2007. The report reveals that the US hosts more than one third of the websites containing malicious code identified during 2006, as well as relaying more spam than any other nation.  Read More: http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2007/01/secrep2007.html?pl_id=9&lang_id=1&lp_keyword=secrep2007 ... reviewed the new Vista program.  See the four part Vista review on the Technical Page of this Newsletter.  It covers costs and information abort the various versions and information about upgrades.   We did some other interesting stuff too, but you had to be there...   We've enjoyed excellent snacks these past two Wednesdays.  Gary Clark brought cookies as did Joe Marasco.  Kitty Laubscher brought Assorted Veggies Cheese and Dip.  Ray Rathmell found some Rice Krispie Bars.  Bob Chu brought fresh Pineapple and some very tasty peanuts.  Skip Frye brought home made Apple Spice Cake and Brownies.  Big Al Dormuth brought a very tasty Strawberry Cake.  Sue Clements did her oven magic and produced a delicious Angel Food Cake with a hint of Pineapple.  We also helped Tom Livingston celebrate his birthday.  He actually considered paying us not to sing but we did anyway.  Click on the small photos of Tom and the Birthday Cake to see enlarged Pictures. This class often becomes idea swapping and we learn by sharing our many experiences and I'll tell you all again, that really happened this week. Thanks to all that brought in suggestions, asked questions, and helped with explanations.

NEWS AND NOTES WITH SUE FOUST:

Positive reader response to last week's tip contributed by KCnet Tech Roxanne Fryer prompts me to provide this space to her again this week. Tip for Outlook Express by Roxanne Fryer: If you use Outlook Express for email and are constantly getting kicked off line while you are checking your mail, or if you keep your email program open while you are doing other things and you are getting kicked off line, there is a setting in the program that you can change to cure this inconvenience. You do not need to be connected to the internet to do this 1.  Open Outlook Express 2.  Click on Tools, Options 3.  Click on the Connection tab 4.  Take the check OUT of the box to Hang up after sending and receiving 5.  Click on Apply 6.  Click on OK Note: Outlook Express is designed to check for mail as soon as you open the program and also every 10 minutes or so when it is running.  If you have a checkmark in "Hang up after sending and receiving," as in #4 above, it is doing just what is says; after you/or the program, sends or receives messages it disconnects you from the internet. Until next time… KCnet Board Of Directors Officers:   President Bill Raco, Vice President Bob Rolley, Secretary Jon Ahrens,  Treasurer Don Miller and Past President Judy Yoho.   Other members of the board:  Carolyn Carl, Lori Hoy,  R.  Keith Kelly, Donna Lannan, Amy Lapriola, Tom Livingston, Ray McGill, and Ray Rathmell.

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